Love Happens

Chapter thirty

Mumbai
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She coated herself with the blanket before going out of the room. She wanted Riddhima to see the lehenga first since she gave it to her. On the way, she stumbled into Anand. Both of them moaned as their heads collided with each other.

"What the...." he was about to curse. However, he paused. His eyes scanned Shraddha from head to toe. While she tried to cover more of herself with the blanket.

"Are you okay?" he expressed in concern. He stretched his hand, intending to check if she had hurt herself in order to give her treatment, however, she stepped away.

"What are you doing?"

"Where did you get hurt? How did you get hurt?" he was imagining she had a skin reaction from something and under the blanket were red dots. If not, why will she be hiding her body?

"Who told you I'm hurt? I'm perfectly alright."

"Then show me yourself. Why is there a blanket on you?"

She held the edges tighter, shook her head like a six-year-old girl. "No."

"So you're hurt? What is wrong with you Shraddha? Why are you hiding things from me? First, with what you discussed with Father and now, your wound." he was surprised at how hurt he was himself, but really, her hiding things from him was a punishment. He wants to know her. Everything, inside and out. He wants her to be an open book to him. Was that too much to ask?

She lowered her gaze to the floor. Again, he was reminding her of his father. That she had to leave after the party. She had to leave him, her daughter, her home, her life to go away. Her eyes turned moist.

"I want to see what is under the blanket."

She didn't protest. She let him pull out the blanket from her body. The lehenga got revealed to him, and unaware, he didn't realize when his jaw dropped open. She was always beautiful, but he never openly let his heart admire it. In the past, he was bounded to Supriya. But now, there was no marriage. She freed him from their relationship through those birds. He doesn't feel obliged to her. She made him free from that responsibility. Shraddha was always exceptionally beautiful. Not because she was a Rajasthani. There was something different about her. In a crowd, she'll stand out. Her heart holds no dark energy. Something which was hard to find in today's day.

"I'm well. You've seen it. Can I go?" She whispered in low breaths.

He nodded unknowingly and she walked past him. The breeze after her departure was what woke him. He saw his father standing in front of him. He was smiling, pretending he didn't do something devilish. For Anand, it was different. His face had built up rigidly. He stared at him with anger while his father understood the reason behind that anger.

"She won't tell you what we discussed. She promised." he patted his shoulders twice and began to walk past him. Anand grabbed his hand and pulled him back. He somehow tried to control his anger from affecting his sense of judgement. He was trying to give his father a last chance to amend, for everything he did.

"What happened to Supriya? Why do you not want Riya and me to speak? And what did you discuss with Shraddha?"

"I haven't spoken to Riya either. You can come and hear what we'll talk about. You both are my children. I don't wish harm on any of you. Whatever I do have a good reason behind it. Excuse me!" he sauntered away. Anand followed him to the private hall where Riya was, alone!

"Brother?" she was glad to see him there. Their father always gave her a headache when they were alone. He forces her and blackmails her with her past life to give in to his demands. Today, she wanted him to see how cruel their father was. To her, to him while pretending to love them.

Anand's father took a file from the table and quietly gave it to Riya. She eyed the blue cover file suspiciously and then opened it. Her eyes scrutinized it carefully as she read through the words. She kept nodding at the unbelievable conditions he laid out while smiling like a mad person at the same time. As she finished, she threw the file in his direction and said with a yell.

"I will not sign it. Who are you to order me like this?"

"It's for your well-being. We'll benefit equally."

Anand picked up the papers that were scattered one after the other on the floor to read what was written for himself.

"Don't you dare! The papers aren't for you. You can't read them."

He shunned his father's words and still went ahead to read the papers, until they were taken out of his hands by him.

"I told you the papers aren't yours to read." his father exclaimed.

"The papers contain rules Anand. Rules I shouldn't break. Rules like keeping silent about..."

"Don't say it, Riya. There will be consequences." his father said in a warning tone.

"Like keeping silent about Supriya's death. And returning to Ranbir's home without a fuss. Be an obedient wife, remain a dutiful daughter and conceal all I know about him." she ended it with humorous laughter. "Really? Do you think I'll do all this now? The time has long passed when I listen to you, Mr Kapoor!"

"Riya had an illicit affair with a drug addict who was only with her for her family's wealth. Her first daughter belongs to him, and even after marriage, both of them kept seeing each other." his father blurted because she revealed what he didn't want Anand to hear. It was his anger that spoke, but what he didn't know, Riya was also angry at the moment.

She replied. "And you were responsible for Supriya's death. The doctors asked you who they should save between the mother and the child. You chose Riddhima instead of Supriya."

"I told Supriya I'll get rid of her at the slightest chance I get. I did. I am a man of my word, but to you. You're equally as guilty because I gave the verdict in front of you. Had you wanted, you could have stopped it. However, you didn't."

"My relationship with her turned sour when she found out the father of my first child was her ex-boyfriend. That's why she kept preventing my letters from reaching my brother because she was scared if I left my marriage, I'll return to her ex-lover. And she still loved him despite being married to my brother. I found out they were still in touch with each other. That was why we had to break up. Not because I married Ranbir, Father. Of course, I too am a human. When you asked the doctor to save the child, I kept quiet because I viewed the child as my brother's alone, not her own. She left me to live in hell only for her to live in heaven. It was also the only chance I got to avenge the suffering she put me through."

"Then you're equally as guilty as me."

"No, I'm not. You don't have a heart, meanwhile, I do. You killed her. Your one sentence ended her life."

"She was dragging my family's name by the mud by having an extramarital affair, that too, with a drug addict who was once involved with my daughter. What do you expect? I'll keep quiet and watch everything happen silently?"

They kept exchanging words with each other forgetting they weren't just alone. Nothing was spared from Anand. This particular sentence kept resonating in his head continually. The doctor's voice when he was informing him about Supriya's death.

"Time of death, 10:45. Date, 25th September, 2017."

He covered his ears as he tried to stop the voice. His world was just demolished in front of his eyes. The beautiful dreams he shared with Supriya, everything. It was too much for him to handle. Dizziness consumed him followed by darkness. He surrendered on the floor.

Shraddha who was on her way to Riddhima's room lost the smile on her face as she jerked to a halt. She clutched her chest as she felt like something was just ripped out from it. She began to feel uneasy while her heartbeat throbbed faster than usual.

Hey! For the next chapter, I'll only publish when this chapter gets 45 likes and 20 comments. Take your time. We can even wait till next year🥱😊. Thank you!